A Lion in a Cage
By Sashi Mizumoto
A/N: Woo. Not much to say really. Since I don't have many reviews, I'll reply to them at the end of this chapter.
Dedication: I dedicate this to Laura, who always thought that the Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings was actually called Mount Boom.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am in a Harry Potter RP though. I get to be Hermione!
CHAPTER 3
Hermione played with the edge of her gray pleated skirt anxiously as she glanced repeatedly at the grandfather clock in the Common Room. They would be leaving for their secret dungeon rendezvous soon and she felt uneasy. She released the skirt and went back to playing with the edges of her book absentmindedly. She had been reading for hours now, trying to keep her mind off tonight. Though she had to admit, she was very excited.
The last of the students (an adorable little blond first year boy) went up to the dormitories and Hermione closed her book. She put it away and glanced at the entrance. 'Where are they? They should've been here by now!' Lily came down from her room and sat down near Hermione, who was now pacing around the fireplace.
"Hermione, calm down. The worst-case scenario is that they were caught out there past curfew and they got detentions. It's not like they're going to die!" Lily laughed but Hermione flinched. It was almost ironic that Lily would say that. Lily, James, and Sirius would all be dead in a few years, and Lily didn't even have an inkling about this. She stopped pacing and sat down rather neatly on the floor. Lily looked over at her and moved next to her on the floor.
"Really Hermione what are you afraid of? Like I said, this isn't going to kill us. Just enjoy yourself while you're here." Lily smiled and Hermione looked over at her. It was amazing that Lily could say something like this. 'But Lily doesn't know her life is going to end soon now does she?' Hermione shook away this thought, deciding to follow Lily's advice. She might as well enjoy herself while she's in this time anyway. She just needed to keep herself in check, that's all.
Just as she finally sat down though, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter burst out from under the invisibility cloak and ran through the entry, out of breath and carrying huge bundles. They threw the bundles to the ground before falling themselves. As they sat on the ground to catch their breath, Lily and Hermione walked over to examine what the boys had been holding. Food poured out from the cloth bags. Lily looked over at James with an impish grin on her face. James smirked.
"Well, we decided it might be fun to eat while we're in the dungeon. Like a dungeon picnic. 'Sides, the elves are really nice. It was hard to get away! They kept giving us all of this nice food and some butterbeer too!" Hermione rolled her eyes, but a smile graced her face. These boys reminded her of Harry and Ron, but also to an extent, Fred and George. Sirius finally stood, smoothing out his pants. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Everyone stood up and Hermione rushed to the bookshelf, pulling out the book she had been reading the other day about witch burnings. James and the other boys took care of the food and Lily held on to an end of the invisibility cloak. Hermione took the other end of the cloak and they disappeared to the naked human eye.
The walk to the dungeon seemed to take an eternity. There were no lights or lanterns or anything of that sort, so the group had to use multiple 'Lumos' spells to keep them from going blind. Hermione wondered how long Filch had been working at Hogwarts. They narrowly avoided running into him, but strangely, he looked as if he hadn't changed appearances between now and her own time.
Upon reaching the dungeons, the group relaxed and tore off the invisibility cloak. Hermione recognized Snape's old office and wondered if the current potions teacher resided there. 'No, James and the others seem much too clever to dive into an unknown area without at least scouting it. I guess the potions teacher doesn't have his office here yet. Thank goodness.'
"Finally! Now we can relax! Jeez, when the halls are really quiet like that I always get such a creepy feeling!" Sirius shook the invisibility cloak off his shoulders and noticed that Hermione was looking at him. He grinned and took his sweater off slowly. "Like what you see?" He winked at her and she blushed and looked away. No boy had ever been as aggressive as he had, and it was odd. Not even Ron was like this. Hermione had decided not to think about her friends tonight. She would think about this rationally when she had a chance to sit by herself and just, well… THINK. However, Sirius' playful strip tease kept playing in her head, and she glared at his back. 'Stupid boys.'
Hermione turned to look at Remus and realized he had hidden a book under his sweater and was now deeply engrossed in it. She moved next to him and smiled. She stood on the tips of her toes to look over his shoulder and see what book he was reading. 'Wow, I never noticed that he was so tall!'
Remus turned his head towards her and smiled. He closed his book, with a bookmark in-between the pages, and held up the cover for her to look at. She saw that it was 'Hogwarts, a History'. Hermione grinned. "How far are you into it?" Remus showed her, and the two were in such a deep discussion, they didn't notice that Lily had set up the food so they were now having a picnic instead of just leaning against the wall. Peter dug into his bag and found a few candles, which Sirius lit quickly. Remus and Hermione stopped talking as the light from the candles flickered against the wall. As if this was a specific cue, everyone sat down and picked up plates, looking over the food before choosing what to eat.
Hermione, who was not an indecisive person, finished rather quickly and was the first to be able to sit back and eat comfortably. Meanwhile, everyone else looked like piglets trying to attack each other so they could feed from the mother first. Hermione rolled her eyes. She looked back down at her muffin and ate it slowly, thinking back to her Hogwarts.
'Is Ron alive or dead? What happened? And what about Harry, and Fred, and George? I don't know anymore! It's too confusing! But... the more confusing thing is that Ron is in love with me? Is that why he was so tense around me?' Hermione gasped as she realized she had answered her own question. However, the group turned and looked at her oddly. She blushed, and pointed to the wall opposite of them. "Sorry, I thought I saw a spider. I hate those nasty little buggers." She smiled in spite of herself, thinking that this is probably what Ron would say at this moment. Everyone shrugged and leaned back, now finished picking their food, with the exception of James and Sirius, who were fighting over a treacle tart. Lily talked with poor Peter, who didn't seem to be looking well. James and Sirius continued to fight for food, which left Remus and Hermione to chat.
"So Hermione, what are you going to do about classes? I mean, your books still haven't gotten here from Flourish and Blott's right?" Hermione froze. In a moment of fun, she had forgotten to really even think about that tonight. Yes, she had thought about it earlier, but this was supposed to be a fun night in which morbid thoughts didn't invade her head. Although she realized, they already had.
"I think I'll go and see Professor Dumbledore about the situation. Perhaps tomorrow." Remus nodded, his fork now busily twirling some spaghetti about. "That would probably be the best thing to do." He ate the spaghetti hurriedly and was about to move on to a biscuit when Hermione stopped him. This was another moment for her that reminded her of Ron. "Here, you've got food on your face." She picked up his napkin and tenderly wiped away a little meat sauce. He instantly blushed at the contact and concentrated himself on buttering his biscuit. Hermione looked at him curiously before busying herself with her food. 'I guess he gets embarrassed rather easily. Poor boy.' James and Sirius, who had finally sorted out their food differences, sat down grumpily and ripped into their food viciously. Lily, not wanting to get hit with specks of flying food, moved closer to Hermione and Remus.
"Well now, you two look like you were having an interesting chat," Lily teased. Sirius stopped eating, which resulted in a piece of chicken falling out of his open mouth. James kept on though, like a spy on a mission that had to be completed. Remus blushed and Hermione just chuckled it away as though it were preposterous. Sirius glared at his food and ripped into it again. James looked up from his food (while still eating) and said nothing. Though he knew he'd have to talk to Sirius later. Sirius looked really mad, and nothing good ever came out of that sort of anger.
The rest of the picnic passed with silence. People were concentrating on their food instead of on conversation. That was probably the best thing about these friends. They didn't have to be talking every second of every day to have fun. They could all have a quiet, pleasant meal and still be happy (as well as not bored).
Lily and Hermione cleaned up the garbage while James and Sirius started lightly hexing each other, to Peter's amusement. Remus was leaning against the wall, reading his book but occasionally looking up to watch those two and make sure they didn't seriously hurt each other. Which, knowing them, was extremely likely.
They all sat together for a few moments, forgetting about all the things that were deemed important in their lives, like school. Hermione closed her eyes, and just as she was about to fall asleep, a crash resounded from a few feet away. Her eyes jolted open and she looked ahead.
A ghost lingered in front of the friends, swaying gently in the air. Lily clamped her arm around James' and froze. Apparently, she had a strong fear of ghosts (she had even had a fear of the house ghosts). James wrapped her into an embrace and Remus and Sirius stood. Peter hid behind Hermione, who recognized the ghost instantly.
"Nick?" Nearly Headless Nick looked over at her and smiled. "Hello Hermione! My, what are you doing here though? This is wrong, completely wrong! And where are Ronald and Harry? Aren't they with you?" Before Nick could go on, she ran towards him and began speaking in a hushed voice. The Marauders and Lily exchanged glances and stayed fixed to their spots.
"How do you know my name? Are you from my time? Are you really Nearly Headless Nick?" Nick gave her a look as though she were an insane person. "Of course I'm Nick! How do you think I am? But Hermione, why are you here in this time? Don't you know that bad things happen to wizards who mess with time?" Hermione nodded but waved away the question. "Nick, do you know if Dumbledore is in his office? I want to ask him to help me get back home." Nick nodded. "Dumbledore is away on a trip actually. He'll be back in about a month. He only told Minerva and Severus where he would be going though. If I were you though, I would just wait. Relax until he gets back, you know?" Hermione nodded. "Thank you Nick. Um, I think we're going to get going, but before we do, may I ask you to do one more favor for me?" Nick nodded and Hermione continued. "Could you see what's happening at Hogwarts for me? Before I left, the Slytherins had attacked the Gryffindors, and I have no idea what happened! Please help and make sure they're okay!" Nick nodded again. "I'll go see what's happening. But I must warn you Hermione, I can't help them if something bad has happened to them. And I won't lie to you about what's going on, alright? Now, for details. I bet you never knew this before, but ghosts can travel through time. It takes a good deal of energy and concentration though. I won't be able to return here for a few weeks. Do you understand?" Hermione looked down at the ground and contemplated this. Finally, she nodded. "I can wait. I just hope for the best." She gave Nick a small smile and he returned it. "Me too. Now, if you don't mind, I shall depart. I'll try and see what's going on." Nick waved goodbye to the group and went through the ceiling.
Hermione turned and noticed the strange looks everyone was giving her. She also just realized that she was crying. She wiped away the tears running down her face. Everyone slowly and timidly came forward before embracing her in a group hug. Sirius whispered into her hair, "Was he someone important to you? A friend?" Hermione only nodded and buried her head in someone's chest. Who, she couldn't see. She was blinded by her warm tears.
Remus, however, now had a huge wet spot on his sweater. He didn't really care, it was only a piece of clothing, but he was upset that Hermione was crying. 'I wonder who that man really was? Perhaps a relative who died or something of the sort? But those clothes, they don't match any time period within at least 100 years. Hmm, maybe I should ask Hermione about this when she's feeling better.'
It was decided unanimously that that was probably the best time to pack it up and go back to the dormitories. James and Sirius burned the garbage that Hermione and Lily had gathered together earlier and Peter held onto Hermione's arm, patting her on the back sympathetically. Remus and Lily discussed ways to cheer Hermione up while walking.
They had just made it to the fifth floor when James suddenly tripped and fell into a suit of armor. The cloak flew off the group and they were now visible. Hoping no one would see them, James scrambled to get up and pick up the cloak but it was too late.
Argus Filch looked at them and smiled, baring his nasty yellowing teeth. He picked up the cloak with the tips of his fingers and dropped it over his arm. "So, what do we have here? A couple of students waking past their curfew? Oh and what's this? The Head Boy and the Head Girl encouraging them? My, my, Minerva will be so disappointed in you two." Hermione jumped into the conversation, determined on at least saving two of the students from a detention. "Sir, James and Lily were just looking for us. We were at the library, because I needed to talk to Remus and Sirius privately. James and Lily noticed that we hadn't come back after curfew." Filch looked at her for a moment before brushing away James and Lily. They pushed themselves off of the ground and ran back to the dorms, looking back at everyone else guiltily. Filch motioned for the others to get up, and he grinned. "Now, it's time for Minerva to deal with you four."
Filch led them to McGonagall's office and knocked on the door. McGonagall came out with a dark green robe on, and Hermione was surprised that McGonagall looked the same as well, except with fewer wrinkles. She glared down at the students before her eyes rested on Hermione. She raised an eyebrow. "Argus, this girl is not a student here." Hermione tensed, realizing she had forgotten about this factor.
Remus jumped in now to save Hermione. "She's my sister Professor. She came to visit me because my mother's been sick while father was away, and she came to tell me. She was planning to stay in the Head Girl's room with Lily. James Potter can confirm her identity, as well as Sirius. Right Sirius?" He looked over at Sirius and nodded. McGonagall looked at him suspiciously before accepting his answer. She smiled somewhat tenderly at Hermione. "What's your name dear?" Hermione blinked. "Hermione Lupin. I didn't write to my brother Professor because I thought this would be something better told in person. I came in on the Knight Bus." McGonagall nodded sympathetically. "Well, I'm sorry that your mother is sick. But you'll go home tomorrow?" Hermione nodded and McGonagall sighed. "Alright. But Sirius, Peter, Remus, you three still have detention. Come back here at 8PM tomorrow. You will be scrubbing the desks. Understood?" They nodded and left, Filch glaring after them.
Hermione looked back at Remus. "Thank you for helping me. I guess Professor Dumbledore didn't inform her of my arrival." Remus gave her a warm smile. "That's alright. You helped James and Lily. It was only fair to try to help you too." They walked back to the dorms in silence.
The next morning, Hermione was the last to wake up. She dragged herself out of bed and without even changing out of her pajamas, walked down to the Great Hall. It was now Saturday, which meant a day with no classes. Apparently though, she wasn't the only one in this sort of attire.
All of the Marauders were in their pajamas with the exceptions of Lily and Remus, who were already neatly dressed. James was wearing a large white t-shirt and forest green sweatpants. Peter was wearing a navy blue shirt that looked six sizes too big for his little body. If he was wearing pants, Hermione wouldn't be able to tell. She could just see his feet poking out from the bottom.
Sirius was wearing a pair of yellow sweatpants, which surprised Hermione. He didn't seem to be the type to wear yellow. But what bewildered her more was the lack of a shirt. She blushed when she realized her eyes were lingering on him. She sat herself next to James, who was next to Sirius. Sirius, not wanting to miss a chance of embarrassing Hermione, got up and hugged her from behind.
"Hello 'Mione. Miss me?" He kissed her on the top of her head and she smacked him with her napkin. He rubbed his head playfully and stuck out his tongue at her. "Temper temper madam!" Lily rolled her eyes and James laughed at Sirius' vain attempts to woo her. Remus glanced over at Hermione above his book, which he was now almost finished. Lily nudged Hermione in the side and pointed up at the staff table. McGonagall was sitting down at her seat. It was then that Hermione realized she was supposed to be gone! 'Calm down Hermione. Just tell her you were hungry and decided to come here and eat before leaving. That's it.' James suddenly let out a string of curse words, which made many people at the Gryffindor table give him odd looks.
"That bastard Filch still has my invisibility cloak!" Hermione wondered as to why no one had realized this earlier. James, with a determined look in his eyes, glared at his breakfast. "I'm going to get it back." He stood up and stormed out of the Great Hall. Sirius looked after him and followed. Hermione got up to also pursue this, but Lily stopped her. "Just let Sirius handle this. This is something neither of us should dig into." She took a bite out of her omelet and dabbed her face with a napkin. "I'm going to the library." Lily stood and left as well. Hermione sat back down, disappointed that she couldn't help James. Remus, who had forgotten about his book in this chaos, sat down next to Hermione.
"Look, it's nothing that you need to worry about so much. Like Lily said, this is something that you just shouldn't make a big fuss over. When James wants to tell you about it, I'm sure he will." Remus gave her a reassuring smile and Hermione couldn't help but feel quite a bit better. Peter nibbled a little bit at his raisin muffin before excusing himself, saying he needed to work on some schoolwork. Hermione couldn't understand how someone who works so hard at schoolwork could be so dull witted in class.
Remus, seeing that McGonagall was about to leave the table, and perhaps see Hermione, dropped his fork onto his plate and took Hermione's hand. He stood up and led her out of the Great Hall. "Perhaps you should stay away from Professor McGonagall for awhile." Hermione nodded in agreement and watched as Remus led her to the library. She took a deep breath and was rewarded with the scent of books and ink. She smiled and felt very much at home right now. He led her to the Restricted Section, when she began to hear Sirius' voice. Remus tried to pull her away, but she wouldn't allow it.
"James, it'll be alright. Look, I'll get your cloak back after detention tonight, okay? I'll have to use the map though. I didn't think I'd have to use it again." James nodded in agreement. "Alright. Tonight, you'll get it back." Sirius looked at him before placing a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright. I promise. You should know that I wouldn't let anything happen to it. We all know how precious it is to you." Hermione stared at a row of books, thinking. Was Sirius talking about the Marauders map? He had to be, of course! But what did he mean by 'I didn't think I'd have to use it again.'? What did he mean by that? Had something bad happened with it when he was younger? Hermione shook away these questions and allowed herself to be led away by Remus.
They decided to go back to the Common Room and they played chess for awhile. Hermione, who had never been good at the game, was beaten about 12 times in a row. It was then that Remus took pity on her, and he called Peter over. He asked if Peter would be an example so that he could try and teach Hermione strategies and tips. Peter agreed and for the first time in her life, Hermione beat someone in chess!
Lily came back from the library, though Hermione realized she had not seen her there at all. 'Maybe she was somewhere else? But where?' Lily decided that they should all go for a walk around the lake. Hermione and Peter agreed, but Remus wanted to get Sirius and James before they left. They met at the entrance to the school and walked around. James and Lily were engaged in a conversation while holding hands. Hermione giggled. 'They remind me of newlyweds.' Peter stopped underneath a tree by the entrance and declared that he was going to take a nap. Which left Hermione to talk to Remus and deal with Sirius' attempts of flattery.
"So Hermione, you've been here for a few days. Any boys catch your eye?" Sirius grinned at her and Hermione just laughed. He really did remind her of Ron. "No, not really." She smiled, but Sirius just pouted. Remus smirked. "Maybe you're not as appealing as you think you are Sirius!" Sirius blushed in embarrassment and smacked him lightly over the head with his fist.
Hermione laughed at the two and they both stopped and looked at her. Sirius stopped in front of the walking Hermione, causing HER to stop walking. He bent down on one knee and took her hand in his. "Dearest Hermione, love of my life, apple of my eye, would you like to snog me?" Hermione glared and poked him sharply on the forehead, causing him to fall over. "At least act decently around women Sirius!" They all met together under a tree near the edge of the lake. James and Lily sat together, kissing happily, and Sirius played with a tentacle from the squid. Remus and Hermione talked about books mostly. Though Remus was still curious about one thing.
"Hermione, who was that ghost from the other night?" Sirius stopped playing with the tentacle and turned to her. Hermione just laughed. "He used to visit this ghost at my old school. I think he's in love with her. She's pretty. Maybe we should set her up with Sirius?" Remus laughed, but Sirius just smirked. He fished out some water and splashed Hermione. He let out a roar of laughter. "That's what you get for making fun of me!" Hermione glared and pushed him into the lake. He let out a yelp and dragged her in by her ankle. She laughed, and Remus, James and Lily came to the side. Lily tried to pull Hermione out of the water, but Sirius grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her in. James and Remus looked at each other seriously before jumping in, letting out loud yells and screams of joy and laughter.
They went inside after it got dark, water dripping from their uniforms and hair. Peter let out an awkward laugh, as though he was embarrassed to be seen around these idiots. They went straight up to the dormitories and changed. Soon afterwards, Sirius, Peter, and Remus left for detention. Hermione felt guilty that she had gotten out of it, but Lily reassured her that it was probably for the best. Hermione went up to her room shortly afterwards, just so she could avoid watching the snogging session which James and Lily were thoroughly enjoying. She looked up at the ceiling for hours, wishing her eyes would just close.
'My mind is too busy. I can't help but keep thinking about Ron and Harry. What's happening to them? Ugh, I wish Nick could get back here soon! I want to know what's happening!' James and Lily walked into the room, kissing. James pushed Lily over to the bed and Hermione shrieked when Lily fell on top of her. Lily and James blushed as Hermione rolled off the bed and bowled over onto the floor. Lily buttoned her shirt again and James looked at the ground, unable to look Hermione in the eye. Hermione, who felt very embarrassed, ran out of the room. James and Lily yelled after her, but she didn't think she'd be able to comfortably be able to look them in the eye right now. She sat down in the Common Room, and at about 1 in the morning, Sirius, Peter, and Remus walked in, looking exhausted. By now, Hermione had fallen asleep and didn't notice them. Sirius, who had been talking to Remus, was about to continue his conversation when Remus motioned to Hermione and made a motion to his mouth signaling Sirius to be quiet. Sirius smirked and walked over to her, avoiding all the squeaky floorboards that he could. He draped the invisibility cloak, which he had gotten back successfully from Filch's office, over his shoulders and disappeared. He climbed on top of Hermione and kissed her sleeping face. She murmured softly and opened her eyes. Sirius appeared blurry, and she didn't comprehend yet that she was being kissed by the most beautiful boy in the school. And this was no ordinary kiss. This was one of those 'French kisses' that she had heard so much about. She felt something soft on her lips and opened them, letting it into her mouth. She felt extremely comfortable, but soon realized that she was snogging Sirius Black. She screamed and smacked him away. He fell off of the couch, bringing down the invisibility cloak with him. Lily and James came down, as well as most of the other Gryffindors. What they saw was a flushed Hermione, a grinning Sirius, and an embarrassed Peter and Remus telling James and Lily what they think had happened. Hermione turned to Sirius and glared. 'If every day's going to be like this, I want to go home.'
END OF CHAPTER 3
A/N: Sirius just doesn't seem to learn, now does he? Anyway, thanks for reading chapter 3! So, what will Nick tell Hermione when he gets back? What was the incident that occurred that involved the Marauders map? What is the origin of the invisibility cloak? Will Hermione fall for Sirius, Ron's clone? And how will they celebrate Halloween? All this and more in the next chapter! (Well, all of this won't be in the next chapter.)